Research briefings

This page provides access to research briefings produced by the Libraries of the House of Commons and House of Lords and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST). You can find research briefings by sorting by date, type, or one of 350 topics. Pick your options from the dropdown menus.

Glossary

Commons Library Research Papers: in-depth and impartial analysis on every major piece of primary legislation and on other major topics of public and parliamentary concern. Regular statistics papers are also published.

Lords Library Notes: Written by the research section of the House of Lords Library to provide information on topics of current interest to members

POSTnotes: Short briefings produced by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology analysing policy issues that have a basis in science and technology.

POST Reports: Occasional major reports produced by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology.

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Religious Slaughter
Published 18 February 2015 | Standard notes SN07108Religious slaughter of animals for food without pre-stunning is currently permitted in the UK for Muslim (Halal) and Jewish (Shechita) methods in line with permitted exemptions to EU slaughter regulations which require pre-stunning. In practice, around 80% of halal meat in the UK is from animals that have been pre-stunned. The UK Government has said that it would prefer all animals to be pre-stunned before slaughter on welfare grounds but it observes the rights of religious communities. However, animal welfare groups, including the British Veterinary Association and RSPCA are calling for an end to non-stun slaughter. All parties in the debate would like to see labelling of meat which provides more consumer information on the slaughter methods used.
Topic:
Agriculture, Animal welfare, Food, Human rights, Religion and faith communities

Pensions: the guidance guarantee
Published 18 February 2015 | Standard notes SN07042Looks at the guidance guarantee to be introduced for people with defined contribution pension savings approaching retirement from April 2015
Topic:
Pensions

TV licence fee non-payment: decriminalising the offence
Published 18 February 2015 | Standard notes SN06860At present, using a television receiver without a valid licence can lead to prosecution, a court appearance and a fine of up to £1,000. In some cases, where there is a refusal to pay the fine and where all other enforcement methods have been tried or considered, a person can be sent to jail for non-payment of a court-imposed fine.
Topic:
Broadcasting, Civil law, Criminal law

Youth unemployment statistics
Published 18 February 2015 | Standard notes SN05871740,000 young people aged 16-24 were unemployed in October to December 2014, up slightly on the previous quarter and down 188,000 on the previous year.
Topic:
Unemployment

NHS Indicators, February 2015
Published 17 February 2015 | Research papers RP15/7A range of summary statistical indicators for NHS England in the following areas: accident and emergency attendance and performance; ambulance call volume and response times; waiting times for routine treatment; waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment; cancelled operations; delayed transfers of care; diagnostic waiting times and activity; waiting times for mental health treatment; workforce numbers for doctors, nurses and other staff; hospital activity, referrals and admissions; and bed availability and occupancy.
Topic:
Ambulance services, Emergency services, Health services, Health staff and professions

Local government in England: structures
Published 17 February 2015 | Standard notes SN07104This note contains basic details of the structure of local government (counties, districts and unitary authorities); the electoral system, ward structures, and the franchise; the divisions of functions between local authorities; and the process for changing local government boundaries and structures.
Topic:
Elections, Local government

Party Political Broadcasts
Published 16 February 2015 | Standard notes SN03354This note sets out the current arrangements for party political broadcasts including their allocation, frequency, scheduling, length and content. Details are given of the BBC’s final allocation criteria for party election broadcasts (PEBs) in 2015 as well as Ofcom’s rules on PEBs for commercial broadcasters.
Topic:
Elections, General elections